In industrial processes, it is often important to be able to accurately identify an event such as a person commencing to operate a personal computer or a computer terminal, or such as an item of material or a container residing at a particular location. Such an identification may be recorded and may initiate other events or sequences, and may initiate gathering of other information, such as the time and location of the event or such as the nature of the events to follow.
Identification tags on such an instrumentality (a person, object or container), have been previously known to incorporate a transponder and to emit a radio frequency (hereafter r.f.) signal in response to an r.f. transmitted inquiry, to identify the tag.
However, extensive uses of r.f. transmissions raise concerns with respect to unintended effects of such r.f. signals and responses.
Some of the r.f. transmissions may be closely coupled with personnel in confined locations. It is believed that such r.f. transmissions may have some adverse effects upon such personnel.